A Central Lake man, allegedly living in Arizona’s Golden Valley at the time of his arrest, is charged with 94 counts of felony animal cruelty after authorities found roughly 183 animals in his freezer, according to a Thursday press release from the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office. Michael Patrick Turland, 43, allegedly admitted to freezing some of the animals while they were still alive.
The arrest comes nearly two weeks after deputies were called to a Golden Valley home for an animal welfare check, requested by Kali Williams, a Phoenix woman who knew Turland and his wife, Brooklyn Beck.
“I was one of his training officers for his first security job he ever held out in Arizona,” says Williams. “He got into breeding ball pythons. He knew I was big into snakes and asked me for advice and whatnot, but on the face of being a totally stand up guy, told me he was ex-Marine, all this stuff.”
In 2021, Williams had made an agreement with Turland to let him breed her snakes while she moved to another living arrangement. Once he bred them, she would get them back.
But after months of no response from Turland, Williams became concerned.
Williams had been in contact with the new property owner where Turland was arrested, who had made the initial discovery of the dead animals after Turland and Beck had moved out of state.
When authorities opened the freezer, they found dead dogs, turtles, lizards, birds, snakes, mice, rats and rabbits. The sheriff’s office noting that some of the animals appeared to have been frozen alive based on their body positioning.
“Right at the top of the pile was my endangered male [snake], curled up, obviously put in there alive,” says Williams. “These are snakes that I’ve had eight years plus.”
Authorities did not make contact with Turland until April 13, when they learned he was at the residence. He was taken into custody without incident.
It’s unclear what the motive was behind the alleged actions, but the investigation is ongoing. As of now, Turland was released from Mohave County Adult Detention Facility in Kingman Friday, April 15 on a $3,000 bond.
Central Lake is listed as his address but he is not allowed to leave the State of Arizona without the court’s permission, per the conditions of his release.
Turland has a court hearing in Mohave County on Friday, April 29.
It’s unclear if authorities from Mohave County have made contact with Brooklyn Beck, after searching for her, for further questioning relating to this incident.
Beck and Turland are alleged to have ownership or be associated with House of Floof Pet Salon in Central Lake. 9&10 New’s contacted Michigan’s Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Agency to confirm the ownership of the business and if they were allowed to operate with the pending charges, but did not hear back.
Customers of the business are concerned after hearing of the allegations that went viral.
“I’m sick to my stomach, to be honest,” says Denise Ehlers-Richards, whose two huskies were taken to the salon on April 12. “To think that something could have happened to them while they were in their care, when I trust that they’re going to be taken care of.” Richards said that day she went in, Beck had seemed “off” having said to have dropped her husband off at the airport in the early hours of that morning, prior to his arrest.
Lynn McGregor also had taken her dog to the salon last week. The dog’s second visit. Only one incident had occurred, according to McGregor, in the two times her dog was there.
Allegedly Beck had grazed her dog’s nose, by accident, during a trim. McGregor says Beck was honest about the incident and seemed remorseful.
In each dealing with Turland and Beck, she says they were both “appropriate” in how they spoke and acted. McGregor says Beck and Turland did appear “annoyed” that she came early to collect her dog after the first appointment, instead of waiting for a text message that they were finished.
McGregor says Turland was the “dominant” and “outgoing” of the two, while Beck was “painfully shy.”
“Of course it raises concern,” McGregor says. “I’ve also been a human long enough to know that sometimes people who are blameless get involved with people who are not.”
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